Talk about being humbled. Miami went into week 4 with a chance to take a major early lead in both the AFC East standing and the conference standing only to be humiliated once again by the Buffalo Bills. A frustrating performance that of course has led to a lot of overreactions but there are some big time concerns with this team, especially when you consider the type of team this Dolphins' team is capable of being.
Original Prediction: Dolphins 31-30
Result: Bills 48-20
Season Predictions: 3-1
The passing game was average yesterday. Tua Tagovailoa was fine, he made two bone headed plays, one that was intercepted on a pre-determined read, and one that should've been intercepted by Tre White. The biggest issue in the passing game yesterday was the offensive line.
For the first time this season our concerns about the offensive line came true as the Bills manhandled the Dolphins up front. Tua was sacked 4 times and hit 9 times in a game that saw Liam Eichenberg start at center for the injured Connor Williams and saw Miami lose Terron Armstead to a new knee injury. Liam Eichenberg has now played tackle, guard, and center in the NFL and has failed mightily at each. At this point Liam is an un-rosterable player. Isaiah Wynn had a tough day against Ed Oliver and DaQuan Jones as well. Not going to win many football games when you get punked up front.
Miami has to find a way to get Jaylen Waddle more involved in the passing game. In 3 games played Waddle is averaging 70 yards per game which isn't bad, but we all know there is more there for him. Berrios scored his first touchdown of the season and Durham Smythe continues to be a solid option at tight end.
This pass game is capable of so much more and they need to be better against teams like the Bills if they want to compete come January. There is no reason any team should keep both Waddle and Hill under 60 yards.
Well the good news is De'Von Achane looks like a stud. After 4 weeks (and really only two games), Achane leads the AFC in rushing and has an absurd 11.4 ypc to go along with his 6 total touchdowns (4 rushing, 2 receiving). The Dolphins are going to continue to make a concerted effort to get the rookie the ball and deservedly so, the rookie is balling. The bad news? The offensive line was bullied all day and Raheem Mostert had 9 yards on 7 carries and fumbled twice losing one and the team was lucky to not lose the other. Tyreek and Berrios both had solid runs as well but it is becoming more and more obvious that De'Von Achane is going to be the guy in the back field.
The Defense:
Last week I wrote this in our recap of the Broncos game:
I am not going to lie, I still have some slight concerns about this defense up to this point. The run defense continues to play much better after the week 1 debacle but this pass game continues to have missed assignments that lead to big plays. You aren't going to get away with that when you have teams like Buffalo, Philly, and KC on the horizon
WELL..... This defense is bad. Really bad. Look I get that it is week four and now is not the time for overreactions but when you get dominated in Buffalo (again) via the pass game, dominated against the Chargers via the ground game, and let the Broncos have as many big plays as they did passing, things have to change. Jalen Ramsey and Jaelen Phillips will only be able to do so much when they return from injury. Kader Kohou needs to stay in the nickel or at the very least Xavien Howard, who you are paying $18m aav, needs to shadow Stefon Diggs.
David Long and Jerome Baker produce one or two splash plays a week but haven't been consistent at all. Both players have struggled in coverage and neither is making consistent plays in run defense. David Long has missed several tackles by simply being in the wrong gap trying to anticipate where the ball is going to go.
The pass rush has been bad, outside of Andrew Van Ginkel, but are we really surprised by this? Jaelen Phillips missed the game and then there is the Bradley Chubb dynamic. We are going to have a conversation about Bradley Chubb later this week so look out for that article but outside of AVG, no one on this team is pressuring or hitting the quarter back. Miami had 3 QB hits this week and 2 of those came on AVG sacks. Christian Wilkins is a great player but he is not pressuring the QB, which is why he didn't get his $20m, and neither is Zach Sieler. Unitl Miami can find a consistent and strong pass rush, games like this are going to happen. Miami was sitting back with 7 in coverage and stillt got picked apart because Josh Allen had all day to throw the football.
Miami has the Giants and Panthers coming up to get right on defense. If either of those teams get after the Dolphins defense, oh man is there going to be issues for this football team.
Up next:
Miami returns home to take on the 1 win Giants who will travel to Miami on a short week after playing on Monday Night Football
Upcoming articles:
- A conversation about Bradley Chubb
- Week 5 Preview